The process of purchasing a condo can bring mixed emotions for many buyers. It’s very common for condo buyers to feel excited, indecisive and even at times confused. It is my job, as their Realtor, to step in and guide my buyers to see the “big picture” from an objective point of view. This includes several key elements:

– Making sure that my client gets to see the best condos which match their criteria

– Making sure that my client does not get “emotionally” attached to any property

– Ensuring that once we find a property we like, we end up purchasing it for the price and conditions which make sense

In this blog post, I want to focus on the first point – “choosing the best condo”. I will cover some of the things buyers often miss when selecting that perfect condo.

With over 50 condo building apartments in downtown Mississauga and over 450 active listings, it would take a buyer 56 days to see every single MLS listing. This would include visiting 8 properties a day, 7 days a week for almost two months straight! Clearly, this approach to finding the perfect condo, would not be very realistic or practical. The more sensible solution would be to hire a Realtor, who works in the area and who can narrow down this search. This is where I come in; and make the process of buying a condo as smooth as possible. Here are just some of the often missed, yet important, points I make my buyers vary of.

Elevators – Elevators are one thing many buyers take for granted. Condo shoppers often assume all condos have elevators which work in the fashion. This is far from the truth. The number of elevators, the speed of the elevators, and the number of people using the elevators can have a drastic impact on how fast one can get in and out of their condo. Thus, certain condos in downtown Mississauga are easier vertically accessible than others. Get a good idea of how the elevators function in the condo you like.

Underground Garage Doors – Many condo buyers are surprised to learn that a few of the newer condos do not actually have garage doors. For example City Gate’s garage is accessible from the street, and there is no physical barrier seperating the garage space from the street. It almost feels like your driving into an alleyway. Although there are many reason for this, I would argue that the primary reason would be to cut down on maintenance fees. Just imagine how many times those garage doors open and close every single day, and how much wear and tear is caused by this. After some time, condo garage doors fail, and fixing them is not cheap. Guess who ends up paying to fix them? You guessed it. The condo owners.

Views – The one aspect you can never change about a condo is your balcony view. Thus, selecting your preferred view is one of the most important elements of the condo shopping experience in Mississauga. If you’re a morning person, then you would probably prefer an east or south/east view as this will allow sunlight to enter your suite in the early parts of the day. On the other hand, if you are an evening person and would like to see sunsets, I would advise going with a west or north/west view. Also, ask your Realtor about future nearby condo projects, which can potentially affect the enjoyment of your unit.

Accessibility & Lifestyle – Not all condos are the same. Some are known to be more “busy” whereas others have a more “relaxed” lifestyle to them. Some condos are known to have more young people and others are known for their mature crowd. Some condos are known to attract investors and have a lot of units rented out, while others are mainly owner occupied. The list goes on and on. For my clients, I ask a series of questions which enables me to narrow down the condo search and find the perfect unit in the shortest amount of time.

All of these 4 keys points are not only important to you, because they will affect your condo lifestyle but also they have direct affect on the future resale value of your unit. As always, I suggest working with a Realtor who specializes in a particular geographical area. As a final note, I would like to remind condo buyers, that my Realtor services are 100% free to you, as the seller is responsible for paying my commission. Interested in a condo in downtown Mississauga? Contact me, I can help.